At Polaris Aero, we don’t just make flight planning easier, we make flying safer. We do this by giving pilots access to better, real-time information with which to make better decisions. And we believe that those better decisions will ultimately result in fewer incidents and accidents.

In 1992, when our founders, Christopher Connor and Trent Fox, started their aviation careers, flight planning was a challenge. As pilots, they learned how difficult it was to find the right information. For example, weather and NOTAMs were disseminated in abbreviated, teletype format—and there was a general lack of information. Back then, FAA publications were not easily accessible.

Even now, despite the internet, many of the same challenges exist: weather and NOTAMs are still disseminated in teletype format—and it is still difficult to find the right publication when you need it.

Nowadays, when an accident occurs, the “solution” is almost always the same: edit or print yet another publication (e.g., FAA InFOs and SAFOs). For example, there are nearly 50 FAA publications that discuss icing! This “information overload” has made it even more difficult for pilots to find the right information.

Chris and Trent decided to change that.

In 2007, Trent and Chris, two former military colleagues, began a comprehensive analysis of the various risk assessment methods available to pilots. They did this by examining existing technology and studying numerous accident reports, safety articles and various research journals dealing with decision-making and memory limitations.

In the end, they realized that there was a wealth of good information out there, but most of it was not getting to the people who needed it most: pilots.


Polaris Aero’s solution, FlightRisk, was released in 2009. FlightRisk solves the “information overload” problem by consolidating and analyzing thousands of pieces of data in order to find the information that is most applicable to a pilot. FlightRisk also gives pilots the opportunity to share their knowledge about hazards with other pilots. These brief, anonymous surveys are much more effective than simply reviewing incident and accident reports. By learning from other pilots’ operational experiences, FlightRisk users can learn valuable lessons before an accident occurs.


Soon after the launch of FlightRisk, Chris and Trent realized that our customers needed more than an advanced flight risk assessment system for pilots; they needed a comprehensive aviation safety management system for the entire organization.

In 2012, we launched our second software solution, Vector SMS, to address compliance with the global standards of ICAO, FAA, Transport Canada, IS-BAO, etc.

Vector SMS simplifies all SMS processes. It is user-friendly and seamlessly integrates with FlightRisk and ARINCDirectSM.


Our goal is to make sure you always have the information you need to make smart decisions. We’re always looking for better ways to find, filter, focus and organize information in meaningful ways, so you don’t have to.

We are excited about the future. Our journey is just beginning. We hope you’ll join us!

To get a demo of our comprehensive software platform, call +1.480.999.3301 or schedule a guided demo today!
